Cold December Night
by SilverHeart09
Summary: Christmas one-shots inspired by Michael Bublé's 'Christmas Album', or the one where Thor is ridiculously excited about everything and Steve keeps blowing up the fairy lights. Pepperony, Clintasha, fluff and happiness and Thor as Santa.
1. It's Beginning To Look Like Christmas

_Hello and welcome to my Christmas-Avengers special! Featuring all characters :) Each chapter will be the title of one of the songs in Michael Bublé's 'Christmas' Album which you should all go and buy because Bublé that's why._

_First chapter featuring our favourite couple :) Well my favourite couple. Tony and Pepper! Enjoy and please review my darlings :) Feel free to send prompts as well._

* * *

_1- It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas_

Pepper was having an awful day.

_Seriously _bad, she felt like someone was out to get her. Loki probably since he was the God of Mischief and everything, but Thor assured her he was still imprisoned on Asgard.

It had started when she'd woken up that morning. She'd gone to bed to previous night lying safe and secure in Tony's arms, and had woken up on her own with a sore throat and a thumping headache. On getting out of bed, she'd stubbed her toe on the dresser and tripped and hit her head on the wall. As it turned out, Tony had apparently had a eureka moment at 3 in the morning and had been working in the lab since then, giving her a barely audible grunt when she'd come downstairs to say goodbye to him before taking the lift to her office, too absorbed in his work to even notice there was anyone there.

So that hadn't helped.

_December just isn't going to be my month, _she decided to herself when the elevator broke down and an engineer had to come out and fix it, leaving her stuck in there playing Tetris on her BlackBerry for an hour. On reaching her office, she'd missed the very important meeting with the legal team and had spilt a cup of scalding hot coffee down her blouse, burning her chest.

By lunchtime, when she'd also got her hand stuck in the drawer, stabbed herself with a pencil, thrown-up her breakfast, got fed up because the phone _would not stop ringing _she felt about ready to cry.

By the end of the day, when she took the lift back to the penthouse and threw herself into the shower (slipping on the tiled floor and bumping her knee, then knocking off the toothbrush cup so that fell on her foot) she did cry, allowing the tears to flow freely down her face as she washed the remains of the _worst day ever _off her body, rubbing the burn mark the coffee had left on her skin.

On exiting the shower, she dropped her towel on the floor and when she bent down to get it she slipped _again _and banged her head on the sink. Swallowing the tears that threatened to resurface, Pepper dressed in her comfiest clothes (well, Tony's comfiest clothes, his faded jogging bottoms and MIT sweatshirt) and tied her hair into a loose ponytail, aching and hurting all over, bruises forming all over her skin and the burn on her chest throbbing.

Making her way to the kitchen, JARVIS informed her that the whole team had gone out and she was alone in the penthouse. Normally, Pepper would have breathed a sigh of relief and stretched out on the sofa with a book, but after slamming the cupboard door on her fingers and stubbing her toe on one of the bar stools, she simply burst into tears again, wishing for some company.

Company arrived 10 minutes later in the form of a red-faced out of breath Tony Stark, clutching a shopping bag to his chest and racing into their bedroom to find her sat in the middle of their bed watching TV, eyes still red and puffy.

On seeing him looking frantically around the room for her and the concerned expression on his face when he noticed how bedraggled and upset she looked, Pepper started crying again, burying her head on her knees and feeling like an idiot.

Tony didn't say anything. She heard the sound of the shopping bag dropping to the floor with a _thump _and then he was climbing into bed beside her, pulling her into his arms where she buried her face in his jumper and howled, the stress of the day coming out in one huge gush of tears.

Tony hugged her and lightly pressed a kiss to the top of her head, rubbing her back soothingly and letting her cry until she had no tears left and was hiccupping pathetically.

'I'm sorry,' Tony said softly.

Pepper sniffed and closed her eyes, breathing in his cologne and trying to relax. 'For what?' she said quietly, wiping her face with the sleeve of his sweatshirt.

'For being a complete ass to you this morning,' Tony replied, bending his head to kiss her cheek. 'I shouldn't have left you, and I shouldn't have ignored you.'

Pepper smiled in his arms, Tony apologising was a rare thing. Tony apologising to _her _was even rarer.

'I'm used to that,' she said softly. 'And it's not completely your fault, nothing has gone right today.'

Tony tilted her chin up so she was looking into his concern-filled brown eyes. 'But you shouldn't be used to it,' he said. 'I'm going to treat you better, Pepper. I swear. And I was wondering why you had an egg-sized lump forming on her forehead. What happened?'

'I hit it on the wall and the sink, stubbed my toes, hit my knee, got stuck in the lift for an hour this morning, trapped my fingers in the cupboard, stabbed myself with a pencil, caught my hand in a drawer, threw-up my breakfast and split scalding hot coffee down my blouse.'

Tony winched and lifted her bruised hand to kiss it and her swollen fingers better. He then wiggled down the bed and lifted up her sweatshirt to kiss the angry burn on her stomach.

Pepper couldn't help but smile and when he pulled himself back up the bed and bent his head to kiss her she eagerly wrapped her arms around his neck and climbed into his lap, wrapping her legs around his waist and losing herself in him.

When they were both left breathless, Tony pulled her back onto the bed, planting kisses along her neck and Pepper laid her head in her favourite cuddling spot, just underneath his chin next to the Arc Reactor and closing her eyes.

'I thought you'd gone out,' she said, sleepily.

'JARVIS called me, he said you were upset,' Tony replied, playing with her hair absentmindedly.

Pepper looked up at him and frowned. 'So you came all the way back to Park Avenue?' she asked, eyebrow raised.

Tony gave her a look. 'My girlfriend was upset, and I was a complete dick to her this morning, and I hate it when you get upset cause you look like a sad kitten which is the saddest thing _ever _and I missed you.'

Pepper smiled and lay back down on his chest, spotting the bag on the floor out of the corner of one eye.

'So what's in the bag?' she asked.

In response, Tony eagerly stretched his arm out to reach it, one arm remaining wrapped around Pepper, keeping her on his chest. Once he'd grabbed it, he handed it to her, kissing the top of her head.

'It's an apology present,' he said. 'A bit silly, but they were playing Christmas songs in the shop and all the Christmas lights have been turned on, so I got a bit sentimental.'

Pepper opened the bag and pulled out a small toy bear wearing a red jumper that said 'To My Best Girl at Christmas,' a gold ribbon tied around its neck, she could instantly see why Tony had liked it.

Pepper smiled and reached up to kiss Tony on the lips, feeling him tighten his hold around her waist. 'I'm your best girl?' she said, smiling at him.

Tony kissed her forehead. 'You've always been my best girl,' he replied. 'The others aren't going to be back for a few hours, why don't we get a head start on the tree?'

The day before, the seven of them had gone out to buy a Christmas tree and ridiculous amounts of decorations. Thor had acted like a five year old, excited by absolutely everything and racing around the shops like a lunatic, attracting a lot of attention from curious children and confused shoppers.

'Sounds like a plan,' Pepper replied, kissing him one last time and climbing off his lap, swinging her legs off the bed and squeaking when Tony suddenly lifted her up and started carrying her to the living room.

'Tony!' she protested.

'I like your body the way it is,' Tony replied seriously. 'I don't want you damaging yourself any more then you already have.'

Pepper smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, enjoying the ride.

When the remaining Avengers got back that evening, they found a half-decorated living room, ridiculous amounts of tinsel strewn across the floor (from an earlier tinsel fight which had ended in a make-out session) empty pizza boxes on the table and one fast asleep and exhausted looking Pepper Potts using her boyfriend as a pillow as _Elf _played quietly in the background. Five pair of eyes were immediately drawn to the bruise blossoming on her forehead and Tony waved nonchalantly at them, combing his fingers soothingly through his girlfriend's hair. 'Don't ask,' he said.

They didn't, instead choosing to dump their bags on the floor and arrange themselves over various pieces of furniture, restarting the movie and allowing themselves to relax.

When Pepper woke up, she was lying safe and warm in their bed, Tony's arms wrapped tightly around her and her bear propped up against the headboard. Pepper grabbed it and cuddled it, pushing her body further into Tony's, causing him to subconsciously tighten his hold on her and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

_People who don't review break my heart! :( _


	2. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

_Chapter 2! It's December tomorrow and I am literally so excited I am going to buy paper chains and cover the ENTIRE HOUSE WITH THEM._

_IT WILL BE MAGNIFICENT._

_Anyway, here is your 'Thor as Santa' chapter and thank you everyone who reviewed and alerted and favourited you are literally the best people and I wish I could wrap you in paper chains and love you._

_Please review!_

* * *

_2- Santa Claus is coming to town_

'What would you get for a master assassin and the female equivalent of Chuck Norris?' Tony asked Pepper as they strode hand in hand through the streets of New York.

'Chuck Norris wishes,' Pepper remarked, adjusting her hat so the brim was pulled down further over her forehead, hiding her red hair. Tony was also wearing a hat, and had his scarf wrapped tightly around his chin so only the top part of his goatee was visible. 'And I thought you got her Men in Black III signed by Will Smith?'

'I did,' he replied. 'But Thor and Steve are still unsure. It doesn't matter though, they can't beat my present.'

'What about Clint?'

Tony scoffed. 'Oh please,' he said. 'Unless featherhead gets her Will Smith wrapped up in wrapping paper with only a bow covering his bits, or not thinking about it, he doesn't stand a chance. Plus I think he's getting her a handgun from Russia or something. He's going to stick a note on it saying _From Russia With Love_.'

Pepper laughed and Tony grinned, wrapping an arm around her waist. The sky was dark and it was snowing, the streets lit up with Christmas lights. Families were hurrying along clutching shopping bags and little children were throwing snow at each other and being dragged along by their parents. Then there were the couples like Tony and Pepper, striding along happily hand in hand, chatting and laughing and generally having a good time.

That is until Captain America ran in front of them and yelled 'IT WASN'T MY FAULT.'

There was a pause while Tony and Pepper looked at each other, eyebrows raised, then noticed the small crowd hurrying towards the mall, the children almost giddy with excitement.

'What did you do…?' Tony asked, feeling a sense of dread crawling into the base of his stomach.

Pepper squeezed his hand reassuringly as Steve told his tale.

'We were walking through the mall trying and failing to find a present for Natasha and Clint, and the Santa guy at Santa's Grotto had a heart attack or something. And all these little kids were crying cause they thought Santa was dead so Thor runs over, puts the spare outfit on and carries on where the other Santa left off!'

'Oh boy,' Tony said, grimacing. 'Thor barely understands what a Christmas Tree is I don't think he even _knows _who Santa is!'

'He's doing a surprisingly good job,' Steve admitted. 'He's got the "Ho, Ho, Ho" down pat.'

'Okay, let's go see what the damage is,' Pepper said, dragging her boyfriend off to the mall and following the (considerably larger than before) crowd going the same way. Obviously, word had got around.

On arrival at the mall, the queue for Santa's Grotto was going out the door and staff were lingering in doorways of their shops watching the show excitedly.

And _what _a show.

Thor, the Norse God of Thunder, the stuff of mythology, the heir to the Asgardian throne and the son of Odin, was currently having his hair plaited by three young girls while a little boy sat on his lap and told him what he wanted for Christmas, excitedly waving his arms around.

Tony couldn't help it; he burst out laughing, dislodging his scarf and causing Thor to look around, recognising his friend's voice and waving excitedly.

'Friend Stark! Lady Potts! I am Santa Claus!' he bellowed proudly, puffing his chest out.

The arrival of Iron Man and Captain America had caused many young children to jump up and down excitedly and call out to them, and Pepper buried her face in her hands.

'Plan of action?' Steve asked.

'I don't know about you two but I am going to go look at shoes,' Pepper said, smiling sweetly at Tony and heading off to the nearest shoe store.

'Should we go over there or stay on neutral ground?' Tony asked Steve. 'I'm not really in the mood to get mobbed.'

'Where's your Christmas spirit, Tony?' Steve asked.

'My Christmas spirit just left me to go look at shoes,' Tony deadpanned. 'Honestly I'm not sure I can handle Thor dressed as Santa, hilarious though it is.'

'Hey guys! Fancy seeing you _oh HELL no.' _

This came from Clint, who had just materialized out of nowhere, Natasha at his side, and had immediately spotted Thor and the large crowd, or audience, or both, that was making the mall seem considerably smaller.

'Screw this,' Natasha said. 'Where's Pepper?'

Tony pointed to the shoe store she'd walked into and Natasha thrust her shopping bags at Clint and strode off in that direction, leaving the three of them stood there unsure as to what the protocol was here.

Tony took his phone out and sent a picture of Thor to Bruce, whose reply consisted of a video clip of him laughing hysterically. Tony forwarded the message to Pepper who sent back an 'LOL' and a picture of red heels with gold straps with a question mark next to them.

Tony's reply ran as follows:

_Buy them and I'll get you those Louboutin's you've been lusting after. And I will make you wear them in bed, and to board meetings, actually screw it throw out all your shoes you're wearing those all the time._

Seconds later, Pepper sent him a picture of the receipt.

'Mr Iron Man!'

'Cap!'

'Legolas!'

Tony grinned and Clint glowered at the tall lanky teenager who'd yelled that last one.

'AVENGERS ASSEMBLE.'

That came from a little girl, probably about 4 or 5 years old who was beaming at them from the queue while her mother went red with embarrassment. Tony and Clint burst out laughing while Steve looked at them amused.

'I'm gonna go talk to her,' Tony said. 'I have to know how someone that small can make a noise that loud.'

Tony sauntered off and Clint shrugged. 'Might as well go say hi,' he said. 'And I really want to know what Thor is actually saying to those kids.'

It took a few seconds for Steve to realise that he was left on his own, and then he yelled 'hey!' and ran after Clint.

When Pepper emerged a few minutes later carrying not one, not two, but _three _shoe boxes, she spotted Tony surrounded by small kids signing various things, Clint pretending to shoot arrows at an unsuspecting Thor and making the kids laugh, and Steve doing push ups with the kids sat on his back grinning broadly.

'Honestly, leave them alone for five minutes,' Natasha said, tutting and shaking her head, adjusting the _four _shoe boxes she was currently carrying.

'We should have known better,' Pepper agreed.

A little girl wandered over to them and tugged on Pepper's jeans.

'Miss Pepper?' she said.

Pepper knelt down and smiled at her. 'Yes, sweetheart?' she asked kindly.

'Are you and Iron Man married?'

**XxXxXxX**

Later, when Tony and Pepper were curled up in bed fast asleep and using each other as pillows, they were rudely awoken by Pepper's phone going off, a witch's cackle ringtone that she had assigned to her mother after watching _What's My Number?_

'Mom it's three in the morning over here,' Pepper said sleepily, running her fingers through Tony's hair to keep him asleep when he started to stir.

'_WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU WERE ENGAGED?!' _her mother shrieked down the phone at her, making Pepper hold it away from her ear due to the volume and causing Tony to wake up.

'Wassat wassappening?' he mumbled, blinking sleepy eyes at her.

'Mom, I'm not engaged,' Pepper said, rubbing her tired eyes. It was _wayyy _too early for this.

Tony frowned at her.

'_Don't you dare lie to me, Virginia,' _her mother replied. _'It's all over the news.'_

'JARVIS turn CNN on,' Tony said, resting his head on Pepper's collarbone.

'_Unconfirmed reports that Stark Industries' CEO's Tony Stark and Virginia 'Pepper' Potts are engaged…' _the newsreader was saying.

Tony's eyebrows shot up and Pepper moaned.

'Oh hell I know what happened,' she said. 'That newsreader, she's that little girl's mother, I recognise her now.'

'What little girl?' Tony asked, confused.

'The girl at the mall who asked me if you and I were married,' Pepper said sighing. 'Which we're not by the way, mom.'

'What did you say?' Tony asked.

Pepper said nothing, but flushed a bright red to the tips of her hair.

'Pepppperrrr,' Tony drawled, poking her in the ribs. 'What did you say?'

'I said…' Pepper sighed and put a hand over the speaker on her phone so her mother couldn't hear what she said next. 'I said, "not yet".'

Tony grinned broadly and Pepper pulled a face at him then removed her hand from the speaker.

'Mom, I'll talk to the press in the morning, but Tony and I are _not _engaged,' she said.

'Yet,' Tony mumbled, kissing Pepper's collarbone then continuing to use it as a pillow.

Pepper said goodbye to her mother then hung up and ordered JARVIS to turn the TV off, burrowing back down under the duvet next to Tony who was playing with her hand.

'What are you doing?' Pepper asked.

'Trying to work out what ring size you are,' Tony responded, a smile in his voice.

Pepper elbowed him and removed his hand from hers, placing it on her hip instead. Tony didn't complain, cuddling her close and breathing onto her skin.

Just before she fell asleep, Pepper heard him mumble. 'I think you're a 6.'

She couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

* * *

_If you review I'll make you my Nan's totally epically fantastically amazing Mince Pies! :D_


	3. Jingle Bells

_HAPPY BIRTHDAY/CHRISTMAS DANCINGTHROUGH! :D :D :D Hope you like your present! :D :D :D_

_PHASE 1 OF MY PLAN TO TAKE OVER THE HOUSE WITH PAPER CHAINS IS COMPLETE. THE KITCHEN HAS BEEN INFILTRATED._

_ENJOY LOVELY PEOPLE!_

_Ooops caps is still on._

_Please review! I love you all ^_^_

* * *

_3- Jingle Bells_

'JINGLE BELLS, BATMAN SMELLS, ROBIN LAID AN EGG.'

This came from Clint, who was determined to sing every spoof Christmas Carol he could think of. So far they'd already had 'While Shepherds Wash Their Socks At Night' and 'We Three Kings Of Orient Are, One In A Taxi, One In A Car' and now it was time for the infamous Jingle Bells spoof recited by children at Christmas Time everywhere.

The Motley gang and their significant others had invaded the kitchen. Tony and Pepper were sat on the unit licking out the remains of the Christmas Yule Log mix, Natasha was using a cookie cutter to make Christmas biscuits, Steve was turning paper into snowflakes and sticking them _everywhere, _Clint was stood on the table singing, Thor and Jane were hanging up paper chains and Bruce was mixing up an eggnog recipe he remembered from his college days which he guaranteed would get everyone sloshed in under ten minutes, assisted by Darcy who was pouring in far too much alcohol when no-one was looking.

They were particularly looking forward to that one.

'Sorry, Clint, but you're no Michael Bublé,' Natasha informed him, winching when her partner sang right in her ear.

Clint held a hand to his heart and elegantly fell off the table, doing a flip and landing on both feet. It was so elegant that he was applauded.

'Bubbles?' Thor asked, confused as ever. 'I was not aware that bubbles had vocal capabilities.'

'_Bublé,' _Jane corrected him. 'He's a singer.'

'A good one,' Pepper added.

Tony pulled a face. 'He drives girls crazy,' he said.

Thor looked even more confused. 'Is he a wizard? An enchanter?' He jumped to his feet. 'Avengers Assemble! We must smite this mighty fiend before he strikes again!'

Pepper giggled and Jane tried not to laugh at her boyfriend's antics.

Natasha pointed a cookie cutter at him in such a way that everyone in the room was immediately certain that, if the need arose, she could kill someone with it. Which was unfortunate considering it was shaped like Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.

'If you dare go anywhere _near _Michael Bublé, to smite him or otherwise, I will dye your hair _bright pink,' _she hissed at him.

'But comrade! He strikes fear into the hearts of females! He must be stopped!' Thor protested. Then he dropped to a fighting stance and summoned Mjolnir. 'He has enchanted the Lady Widow! Friends, what can we do to restore her mind?'

Pepper had had enough of Thor's nonsense and, after nearly getting her nose knocked off by Mjolnir flying past her face, she had instructed JARVIS to play 'Jingle Bells,' which was now playing on the window screen.

'_Merry Christmas ladies!'_

'_Merry Christmas Mr Bublé!'_

Thor stopped, staring in wonderment at the sight in front of him. 'By Odin's Beard!' he exclaimed. 'He has the voice of one of the Valkyries of Valhalla!'

Tony and Clint raised eyebrows at each other in a _so that's who he'd turn gay for _look. Pepper noticed and nudged Tony, who responded by nuzzling her neck to pacify her. It was true she'd repeatedly told him to stop taking the mickey out of his teammates, but come on, it was _Thor. _

'Keep it PG in the kitchen!' Natasha said, pointing a Santa cookie cutter at the pair of them.

In response to this _grossly unfair demand I mean come on whose kitchen is this, Romanoff? _Tony jumped off the unit, gathered Pepper into his arms who let out an indignant squeak, and carried her out the kitchen. There was then a _thump _which sounded like the two of them falling onto a sofa and a very suspicious silence.

It wasn't until ten minutes later when Bruce called out that the eggnog was ready and Natasha's biscuits were baked, on a cooling rack and ready for icing, that Stark Industries' two CEO's reappeared, Tony wearing considerable more lipstick then he'd been wearing a moment ago, which was none, and Pepper readjusting her blouse and arranging her hair to hide what looked like the start of a beard hickey on her neck.

'That shade looks good on you, Tony,' Darcy said, smirking at them.

Bruce poured the eggnog and handed it to everyone. 'Take it slow,' he said. 'It's very strong.'

'CHALLENGE ACCEPTED,' Tony, Clint, Darcy and Natasha chorused, downing the drink in one. Thor, not wanting to be left out, copied his teammates and Steve sighed.

'It's not like I can actually get drunk,' he reasoned and also downed his drink.

'This is going to end badly,' Jane said, making a face at her drink but downing it anyway.

_**One hour later.**_

'Have I ever told you how gorgeous you are?' Tony said, lying on his back on the carpet cuddling a pillow and gazing up at Pepper, who was draped across a sofa and had one arm hanging over it so she could trace the Arc Reactor with one finger.

'You may have mentioned it a few times,' Pepper said giggling. Tony reached up and pulled her off the sofa and onto his chest where he planted kisses along her jawline and collarbone.

Natasha, Clint, Darcy and Jane were engaged in a vicious battle of strip poker. Jane only had a towel wrapped around her, having lost all her clothes early in the game. Darcy was in her underwear and her socks, and Clint was in his boxers, Natasha being the only one still with all her clothes on, sitting there smiling smugly at all of them.

Bruce was doodling pictures of the Hulk on the coffee table, and Thor and Steve were sat on the sofa watching the chaos going on around them. Tony and Pepper looked about ready to rip each other's clothes off, Clint was now completely naked and Bruce was giggling to himself as he drew a picture of Hulk about to fling Thor into the sun.

Steve was feeling a bit of a buzz, not enough for him to feel drunk, and it had only lasted for five minutes before the super soldier serum in his bloodstream regenerated themselves and the buzz faded, but it was a good warm familiar feeling.

'I think I should remove Jane from the room,' Thor mused. 'I am sure she will not be happy in the morning.'

'I don't know,' Steve contemplated. 'I heard her and Darcy comparing nights out at college. From what I gathered, _this _is nothing,' he said gesturing at the Poker Foursome.

Tony and Pepper had now left the room, stumbling and giggling, Tony's belt left discarded on the floor and Pepper's top hanging off her.

'Lady Jane, perhaps we also should call it a night?' Thor asked, standing up and offering a hand to her.

Darcy smirked and winked at Jane, who burst into giggles and took Thor's proffered hand, pulling the towel a little tighter around her as Thor carefully helped her walk the length of the floor, keeping one arm firmly around her waist. Darcy threw her cards down on the table in defeat and stretched, saying goodnight and disappearing to the guest room she'd stolen earlier in the day.

Natasha and Clint disappeared together whispering things in each other's ears, Clint still naked. Bruce finished drawing and went down to his lab; leaving Steve sat there on the sofa by himself.

'Night guys,' he called.

**XxXxXxX**

'Urgh,' Pepper moaned when she woke up the next morning, her head pounding, throat dry and vision blurry. She kept her eyes tight shut, anticipating the stabbing glare she was going to get from the lights in the room when she opened them. She was lying on something soft which, on closer examination, turned out to be Tony's warm body, still asleep, one arm draped across her back and… yep. Butt naked. And so was she. Lovely.

_Certainly woken up in worse situations, _Pepper mused, thinking back to her college days and all the pictures she'd so far managed to hide from Tony.

'Remind me to kill Bruce,' Tony mumbled, burrowing his head in Pepper's shoulder.

'I think Darcy may have been involved,' Pepper said. 'No way he'd put that much alcohol in it.'

'In that case remind me to kill both of them,' Tony responded, voice muffled by Pepper's skin.

There was silence while the two naked CEO's tried to fall asleep again so they wouldn't have to face the hangover blossoming in their skulls, then Tony said:

'By the way, I'm pretty certain your other hand is on my ass.'

Pepper flexed her fingers.

'Yes. Yes it is.'

**XxXxXxX**

It was about three o'clock that afternoon when the Avengers, Jane, Pepper and Darcy gathered in the kitchen and dug into Natasha's biscuits without a word of greeting or acknowledgement of each other's existence. Once they'd finished eating, it was widely agreed that Natasha's biscuits were _the_ best hangover cure, and they should market them and make a fortune.

'Tony's already a billionaire though,' Darcy pointed out.

'Not for much longer if Capsicle and Goldilocks keep exploding all the kitchen appliances,' Tony countered.

Unable to hide the curiosity for much longer, the nine of them made their way into the living room.

'There's my belt,' Tony said, picking it up from off the floor and staring at it as though it could fill the missing gaps in his memory.

Jane spotted her bra under the coffee table and quickly bent and picked it up, shoving it into her back pocket when no-one was looking.

Steve yelped when something black landed on his face, then gagged when he threw it off, realising it was Clint's boxers.

Eyes turned upwards to the arrow which had been left in the ceiling where they'd currently been pinned and the small piece of ripped fabric still attached.

'Whoops,' Clint said.

'Bruce…' Tony said slowly with the tone of one who wasn't sure if the world was about to end. Being the Avengers, they knew that tone very well and often used it in situations such as this because yes, this had happened before when Thor had brought Asgardian mead back from Asgard and whereas in this situation they remembered _some _things, they hadn't remembered anything last time and why they'd all woken up naked and covered in glitter on the roof remained a mystery, although the _Twilight _DVD they'd later found in the DVD player may have had something to do with it.

'Yes?' Bruce asked.

'Is that a drawing of Hulk throwing Thor into the sun on my coffee table?'

Eyes turned downwards to Bruce's sketch.

'Sure looks like it,' Bruce said.

Pepper went to go and put the coffee machine on, far too hung-over to be dealing with this right now.

* * *

_I am a review whore! :) Please review you wonderful amazing fantastic people :)_


	4. White Christmas

_What's this? A story update? Hooray! :D Unfortunately I do this thing called nursing and we have to do this annoying and totally unnecessary thing called 'work' so I have been super busy the past few days. I also found out that I am allergic to EVERYTHING. Gloves, soap, hand gel, all of it, my hand has never been so itchy :P_

_Anyway, on to chapter 4! And I get to go home on Friday and I am SO EXCITED._

_AND OH MY THOR THE JAPANESE IRON MAN 3 TRAILER I LEGITIMATELY CANNOT HANDLE MY EMOTIONS RIGHT NOW WHAT IS HAPPENING?!_

_HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUZZIESIDLE I AM SO SORRY I MISSED YOUR BIRTHDAY ON WEDNESDAY I HOPE THIS MAKES UP FOR IT AND HOPE YOU HAD A TOTALLY AWESOME DAY._

_I have really got to stop leaving caps on._

_Please review! :D_

_MY MUM SENT ME A PURPLE CHRISTMAS TREE._

* * *

_4- White Christmas_

The snow was crisp and fresh under their feet and despite the chill in the air and the cold wind, Pepper felt warm and happy with Tony's arm around her shoulders and her arm around his waist.

The sky was just beginning to go dark and the park was empty, no children yelling, nobody bickering or arguing or making a lot of noise, it was just them and the snow. She couldn't remember what they'd been talking about. Stark Industries? Presents? Chocolate? The insane amount of kitchen appliances which had met their untimely doom that week?

It didn't matter though, because the next second Pepper was leaning her forehead against Tony's and his lips were finding hers and his arms were wrapping themselves around her and her body lit up like it was on fire.

There was no noise, no light, no distant yells from children and beeping of cars. There was no cold, no damp, no red cheeks or shaking fingers, numb from cold. There was only him, warm and safe and wonderful in her arms, his lips soft and gently against hers, his arms tight and secure around her.

This moment, was perfect.

Then it was ruined by a sudden and unexpected snowball to the face that impacted right on the side of Tony and Pepper's conjoined lips.

'GODDAMNIT, CLINT!' was yelled in unison as the pair turned round to shoot daggers at the archer who had ruined their moment, and who was now rolling around in the snow laughing his head off, Natasha and Bruce chuckling by his side.

Turns out they hadn't been as alone as they thought.

Tony kept Pepper pressed up against his chest with his arms wrapped around her. 'Do you _mind, _bird-brain?' he growled at Clint.

Clint shrugged. 'If it's any consolation, we didn't know you were here and you weren't followed. But seriously? How could I _not._'

Pepper grinned and Tony nudged her gently with an elbow. 'We're not finished,' he whispered huskily in her ear making her shiver, and not from the cold either.

'Well, we'll give you five minutes then meet us at the bandstand for a snowball fight,' Clint said, wandering off with one arm secure around Natasha's waist.

Both Tony and Pepper raised an eyebrow at that.

'Five minutes huh?' Pepper said. 'Doesn't seem long enough.'

Tony grinned. 'Oh I don't know,' he said. 'I can do a lot in five minutes.'

'Challenge accepted,' Pepper whispered before finding his lips again.

**XxXxXxX**

The bandstand was empty when they got there, with the exception of Clint, who appeared to be constructing the world's largest snowball, Steve, who was sat on the bench with his sketchpad on his knee, Bruce, who was lining up snowballs on the rail, and Natasha, who was assisting Clint in his mission to construct the world's largest snowball.

'No Thor?' Pepper asked.

'He said he'll come by later,' Natasha said. 'He's with Jane at the moment.'

'At least we don't have to worry about an air assault,' Pepper said.  
Clint slung his quiver onto his back and winked at her. All the arrowheads had been replaced with what looked like cotton wool, Pepper noticed.

'Right, let's have a nice, dirty and unfair fight,' Clint said. 'Below the belt, straight in the face, all that stuff.'

'Well this ain't gonna be good,' Bruce said, pulling a face.

'Do we get a few seconds to go and hide?' Tony asked.

'Nope,' Pepper said, hitting both Clint and Bruce straight in the face with two perfectly aimed snowballs.

'Hey!' Bruce protested.

Pepper shrugged. 'Clint said play dirty, I'm playing dirty.'

'Oh my god, marry me,' Tony said, staring at her.

There followed a pause in which none of the Avengers could tell if he was being serious or not and Pepper remembered their pillow talk a few days previously in which Tony had _measured her ring finger._ This silence was broken by Steve dropping his sketch book on the floor and springing into action, nailing all of them in the face with snowballs thrown so quickly you didn't even see it happen.

It. Was. _On._

Clint sprinted towards the nearest tree and scaled it with ease, where he then began to shoot snowballs on his arrows at the people below him.

Tony grabbed Pepper's hand and dragged her to the back of the bandstand where they hid under the railings and listened to the sounds of Clint and Natasha trying to get 'Cause Of Death: Snowball' written on each other's death certificates.

The CEO's quickly gathered a small army of snowballs ready to fling and took turns popping up to throw them at an Avenger. Pepper likened this to 'Whack-A-Mole' which made Tony laugh.

By the sound of it, Steve was sprinting along the railing of the bandstand throwing snowballs in every direction as he went. Tony tucked Pepper under his coat and buried his head into her hair as the star-spangled man with a plan flew past them, pelting them with snowballs as he did so.

Being buried under Tony's coat, breathing in his warm scent and with her heart beating fiercely against her ribcage made Pepper bold, and she reached for him, her hands finding their way under his shirt and pressing against his warm chest, her head angled so she could kiss him, fiercely attacking his mouth with her tongue.

Then the snowballs rained down on them and they realised that Steve, Clint, Natasha and Bruce had teamed up and were pelting them with the wet balls of snow.

'HAVE NO FEAR. THE SON OF ODIN IS HERE,' a voice came from the sky as Thor hovered in the air, swinging Mjolnir around his head.

'Here we go,' Natasha said.

'GET HIM!' Clint yelled.

It's safe to say that if the snowballs had been bullets, Thor wouldn't have made it out alive.

**XxXxXxX**

When they arrived back at the tower, the 8 of them (including Jane) arranged themselves other various pieces of furniture and each other and watching _Easy A, _as it was the only non-Christmassy movie on TV and the gang had just about had enough of Christmas at that moment.

When Pepper felt Tony's hands sneaking under her top to paw at her skin towards the end of the movie she kept her lips pressed tightly shut, trying to stop herself uttering the moan that was making its way up into her mouth.

Once the film was ended, Pepper was so on edge she all but flung Tony over her shoulder and carried him off caveman style. As much as she wanted too, she lacked the physical strength and she ended up dragging him to their bedroom, making up some story about the two of them missing an important conference call as she went for the others' benefit, not that she was entirely convinced they'd believe her.

Once inside their room Pepper pushed Tony down onto the bed and clambered onto his lap, nearly ripping his t-shirt off in a desperate attempt to feel his skin warm on hers.

Tony's kisses were agonisingly slow, forcing her to slow down and he gently flipped her over so she was lying with her back against the mattress and he was leaning over her, kissing her softly and playing with the hem of her t-shirt.

'Tony,' Pepper breathed against his skin as he gently tugged her t-shirt up and over her head.

'Yes?' Tony said, kissing her neck and unbuttoning her jeans with one hand, the other wrapped firmly in her hair and pulling her head back so he had better access to her skin.

'When you asked me earlier,' Pepper said, impatiently tugging on his belt, 'when you asked me to marry you…'

'Yes?'

Oh _god _he was doing that _thing _with his _tongue _and _argh. _Pepper could feel herself rapidly losing her train of thought and the words came tumbling out of her mouth before she forgot them.

'Were you being serious?'

Tony paused and Pepper felt her heart speed up, then she felt him smile against her skin.

'What do you think?' he asked her eventually, kissing his way up her jawline until his lips were by her ear.

'I don't know,' Pepper said, shivering involuntary and letting her eyes close.

'Exactly,' Tony whispered into the sensitive spot behind her ear, his goatee tickling her skin. 'When I ask you to marry me, you'll know I'm being serious.'

Pepper moaned and pushed his jeans off his hips and onto the floor and his lips found hers and she lost herself in him.

It wasn't until later, when they were both lying curled up together naked in bed with the moonlight on their skin and the duvet tangled around their bodies that Pepper realised he hadn't said _if. _He'd said _when._

Pepper kissed Tony Stark's slack mouth and moulded her body around his, smiling when Tony mumbled something in his sleep and brought his arms around her to cuddle her.

_When. _

Like there was even a chance she'd say no.

* * *

_Argh I get really nervous writing anything even slightly dirty but seriously this is Tony and Pepper and as a lovely reviewer mentioned they're like rabbits._

_Please review! :D Send me prompts and things! :D_


	5. All I Want For Christmas Is You

_Hello lovely people! Hope you are all having a lovely Christmas and are eating far too much chocolate ^_^ I know I am!_

_Here is chapter 5 for your viewing pleasure, every time I hear this song, this is what it reminds me of, so I hope you enjoy :)_

_Fluff, pure utter complete fluff, the next chapter will feature the long awaited epic showdown:_

_Captain America VS. Christmas Lights._

_They're tricky buggers._

_Please review! :D_

* * *

_5- All I want for Christmas is you_

Outside, the snow was coming down in bucket-loads. All traffic had been brought to a standstill and news-reporters were stressing the importance of not going out in this weather if it could be avoided, as the icy roads were causing all sorts of havoc in Midtown, more havoc than usual that is.

Pepper Potts was sat in the window seat of her and Tony's bedroom drafting an email to the mayor on her phone, watching the weather turn the usually hectic streets into complete and utter chaos. Tony had tried to call a few minutes previously to tell her he'd got stuck somewhere around 45th street, but the phone lines were down and all she'd heard was: 'P….r, st… in traf…' and that was it, so she was now sat in the window watching the chaos outside and munching her way through a tin of Roses.

She heard movement coming from the living room and jumped up to go see who it was.

Natasha and Betty had just come in, covered in snow and laden with shopping bags, which they dumped unceremoniously on the floor, both slightly red in the face and out of breath.

'It is _ridiculous _out there,' Betty told her. 'Forget the spirit of Christmas the whole of New York has declared war on the weather by the looks of it.'

'Not another one,' Pepper sighed. 'We've only just got over Loki.'

Natasha grinned and tried to call Clint again on her phone, but got nothing. She grumbled in frustration and shoved the phone back in her pocket.

'Boys aren't back yet?' Betty asked, sounding hopeful.

Pepper shook her head. 'Tony tried to call me but I couldn't make out what he was saying. I _think _it was something about being stuck in traffic. JARVIS has lost the signal too so he can't track them.'

The three girls seated themselves on the sofa and turned the TV on, watching the end of _Deck the Halls _and debating how difficult it would be to turn the whole of Stark Tower into one giant light show.

'I expect Tony would find a way,' Natasha said, and Pepper was surprised to see that it actually looked like she was seriously considering it. 'It would be a great show for the kids.'

Pepper and Betty were looking at her like she'd grown three heads and she gave them a look.

'I am capable of having fun, you know,' she told them.

Jane and Thor chose this moment to make their entrance, tripping over the bags that Natasha and Betty had left on the floor and giving them all a cheerful wave.

'How did you make it back?' Betty asked, surprised.

'We walked,' Jane said, shaking the snow out of her hair and hanging up her coat. 'The car wasn't that far from the tower and they were saying on the radio the snow wouldn't get cleared till tomorrow so we just pulled over, got out and walked.'

Steve came in about an hour later in his running gear with snow in his hair. His reports on the weather and the traffic and suchlike were much the same, and he disappeared into his room to shower.

The night drew on and soon it was only Pepper and Natasha left in the living room, waiting on the sofa for their men to come home and watching _Casino Royale _on the TV, Pepper's tin of Roses on the sofa between them, the amount of chocolates remaining gradually decreasing. Soon, Natasha had to call it a night as she had a meeting first thing in the morning and she had to get some sleep.

'Clint knows where I am,' she told her companion, standing up and stretching. 'Don't stay up too late.'

Pepper nodded but had no intention of moving until Tony was back. She had JARVIS keeping tabs on the weather updates and continuously searching for Tony's signal, but nothing so far.

Now that Natasha had left, Pepper was able to stretch her legs out across the space where she had just been and curled up under a blanket, continuing to watch the film and trying to decide who had the better ass. Tony or Bond?

It was a tough decision.

**XxXxXxX**

'Pepperrrr…'

Pepper grumbled at being woken up and burrowed further under her blanket, keeping her eyes closed and trying to drift back off to sleep. There was something on her arm gently stroking her skin and something else running through her hair.

'Wake up, Pepperpot.'

Pepper's eyes opened slowly and she was greeted by the sight of Tony Stark's face, gazing at her through his soft brown eyes and smiling.

'Hey, Pep,' he said. 'You miss me?'

Pepper sat up and pulled him to her, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him down so he was perched on the edge of the sofa and she didn't have to reach so far to hug him.

'I'm taking that as a yes,' Tony said into her neck.

'I did miss you,' Pepper said, pulling away from him and kissing him gently. 'When did you get back?'

'About ten minutes ago,' Tony said, gathering her into his arms and picking her up, carrying her to their bedroom. 'I didn't want to wake you, especially since I wake you up most nights, but I figured you'd probably kill me with your hairbrush if I didn't.'

'Damn right,' Pepper said sleepily into his t-shirt.

Once they reached their room, Tony gently placed Pepper on the floor and she pulled on her pyjamas, crawling under the duvet and feeling herself drift off again. Tony climbed in after her and wrapped his arms around her, playing with her hair.

'You do, by the way,' Pepper mumbled.

'I do what?'

'Have the better ass.'

'Compare to who?'

'James Bond.'

Tony pulled her tighter into his arms and kissed her neck. 'Have I ever told you how much I love you?'

'Because I decided your ass is better than 007's?'

'Partly that, I mean seriously- it's Daniel Craig in _those _tight blue trunks.'

'They were very tight.'

'I love you.'

'I love you too. Now go to sleep.'

'Yes, Pepper.'

* * *

_Please review! :D_


	6. Holly Jolly Christmas

_It's Christmas EVEEEE :D :D All my Christmas shopping done, presents wrapped, mince pies made :D And I managed to find a pretty dress to wear tomorrow ^_^_

_If I'm not able to whack out another chapter this evening this'll be the last one cause stories about Christmas after the event are just depressing :P There may be a New Year one :) Drunken-Shenanigans will ensue so keep an email alert out for me :)_

_If there are no more chapters to come then I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very very happy Christmas :) Eat too much and watch Doctor Who for me :)_

_Please review! I'll forgive you for not giving me a present ;)_

_6- Holly Jolly Christmas_

* * *

It was the Thursday the day before the world was due to end and the Avengers were celebrating the coming apocalypse by hanging yet more Christmas lights in the window, following Natasha's suggestion of turning the penthouse into a light show after the three girls had watched _Deck the Halls._

Pepper was currently stood on Tony's head as she secured their last set of lights to the top corner of the large window. Once that was done, she jumped off and Tony caught her easily in his arms. They'd decided, to add a little extra challenge, to divide the windows up to see who could get all their lights hung the quickest. The odds were on Natasha and Clint to win, being the most athletic out of all of them and being a bit of a duo act, but Pepper and Tony had decided that in their own home, that wasn't acceptable and they had just finished their last window and were now reclining on the sofa grinning smugly at the others and listening to _Christmas with the Puppini Sisters._

Natasha and Clint finished just seconds afterwards and joined them on the sofa, watching Bruce and Betty as they finished their window and Thor someone managing to wind all the lights around his massive bulk while Jane laughed. Steve and Darcy finished after Bruce and immediately raided the biscuit tin before joining their friends on the sofa, where they were watching Thor try to untangle himself and instead, somehow, managing to make it even worse.

It took a good half an hour later for Thor and Jane to finish their window and then it was time for the moment of truth. Steve bent down to flick the power socket on and…

_BAM FIZZ BOOM POW KABLAM._

… all the lights on Steve and Darcy's window exploded, sending glass fragments flying everywhere.

Clint and Tony had instinctively pulled the others down behind the sofa when the first pieces of glass had come flying and it wasn't until JARVIS announced that it was safe to come out that they peered over the top of the sofa at the damage.

Steve and Darcy's set of lights were hanging off the window, smoking and sizzling and generally looking like a serious health hazard. Tony clambered out from behind the sofa and poked the extension plug socket they were all plugged into with his foot. It hissed angrily at him and Tony looked at the socket on the wall the extension block was plugged into, then back at Steve.

'You overloaded it,' he announced.

There was a pause, and then: 'Whoops.'

'I like this place, there's always something happening,' Darcy said grinning.

**XxXxXxX**

An hour later, all the glass had been swept up, Tony had fixed the electrics, new lights had been hung in the window and Tony and Clint were programming them to flash in time to 'Holly Jolly Christmas'. It was producing quite a spectacular lightshow and the group had gone outside to sit in the snow on the bench opposite the tower to watch it. In front of them, a small group of children had gathered to crane their necks in order to look at the display and before long, a news team had arrived to film a little piece on the lights.

While this was all going on, the Avengers sat quietly behind them with hats pulled low over their foreheads and scarves wrapped tightly around their faces. An impromptu snowball fight started by one of the children got everyone throwing balls of snow at each other, Avengers included, and before long one well aimed ball to the face had Natasha's hat flying off her head.

'It's Black Widow!' an excited little girl shouted.

'Hi,' Natasha said, waving at her.

Pepper chose this moment to slip on the ice and was about to crash head-first into a lamp-post, but Tony appeared out of nowhere to catch her and the two of them fell to the ground, scarfs dislodging from their faces.

'Are there any more Avengers here?' one of the reporters asked sarcastically.

Clint, Steve, Thor and Bruce stepped forward as one and pulled their hats off, raising their eyebrows at the reporter as Tony helped Pepper to her feet, or tried to, instead he slipped on the same patch of ice she had and sent them both flying to the ground again, Pepper getting a soft landing when she slammed into Tony's chest.

Once the two CEO's of Stark Industries had regained a firm grip on the ground, they were then faced with a group of about 30 young children clutching snowballs, grins on their faces.

'Oh boy,' Clint remarked.

'GET THEM!' one little boy yelled and Earth's Mightiest Heroes found themselves diving for cover from the onslaught that rained down upon them.

**XxXxXxX**

'Well, as the end of the world went, that wasn't too bad,' Bruce pointed out to his teammates as they all sat in the hot tub once they'd proven to everyone exactly _why _they'd been able to defeat Loki.

Needless to say, it involved Clint being high up and flinging snowballs at anything that moved, Natasha doing some Olympic worthy gymnastics to dodge the balls, and Thor using his elbow to block the snow.

'Agreed,' Clint said, splashing Natasha with his foot.

'_Sir, there is a news report you may be interested in,' _JARVIS announced.

'Play it,' Tony said as he absentmindedly played with a strand of his girlfriend's hair.

'_The Avengers delighted a group of children this evening on the eve of the end of the world,' _the reporter was saying. _'The group hung lights in the window of Stark Tower programmed to flash to Michael Bublé's voice and then took on a group of children in a snowball fight. Tony Stark and Pepper Potts performed a dancing on ice routine _(at this Pepper buried his face in Tony's shoulder) _and actual God of Thunder Thor demonstrated how his strongest weapon isn't his hammer.'_ At this announcement, caterwauling and wolf whistles ensued from everyone while Thor sat looking confused.

'_From everyone here at CNN, I would like to thank you for providing a distraction from the Mayan apocalypse everyone is harping on about, and I would like to request that if the Doctor doesn't show up tomorrow to save the world, you may consider helping us out. Thank you, and have a very Merry Christmas.'_

The report ended and the group burst into spontaneous applause at how awesome they were and then got JARVIS to play an episode of Doctor Who, mainly for Steve and Thor's benefit who were looking so confused Tony actually felt _sorry _for them.

* * *

_Please review! AND HAPPY CHRISTMASSSSS :D_


End file.
